Contrast
by Arialene
Summary: {Complete} A story written for ANY ship. AU fic. In a world of black and grey, everyone is searching for their one perfect soul mate. When found, a whole new world opens up to them in this Utopian society in the form of vivid color and deep, pure love. It's the perfect life, knowing that you have your perfect half with you.
1. The Instructions

This piece was written with the intention of being able to be read with **ANY** ship in mind.

There is no dialogue, there are no names. It is written entirely using "he/him/his" and "she/her/hers".

This is very much an AU. You'll see more when you start reading.

The time frame on this can be anywhere from early 20th century all the way to futuristic, I've done my best to accommodate as many time periods as possible.

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**"Why is this under the Frozen Fanfic tag?"**

**Because I had to put it somewhere, and this is part of the tag that I'm very well known for. However, I wrote this fully intending it to be used for ANY ship. **

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REVIEW. REVIEW. REVIEW.

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****THIS IS YOUR INSTRUCTION FOR THE STORY IN THE NEXT CHAPTER****

Choose your two characters. Choose your OTP, or your pairing that you want. Choose it now, no going back once you've hit "Next Chapter!"

If you want a same-sex couple, sure! Go ahead! This story works GREAT for that. You just have to decide which character will be written as "he" and which character as "she" (Simply because that is how the story is written).

Insert in your character's name when you come across "He" or "she". If you want to switch it around, you want "he" to be "she" and "she" to be "he"? GO FOR IT. But once you click next chapter, you're committed! No changing it around.


	2. Contrast

They all lived in a world where color was a gift. Where everything was shades of blacks and greys, and certain things happened in your life to grant you glimpses and flashes of color. Friendships, families, love, hate. All of these things would give a person color in their life. You might have a friend that always brought green when they were around, or a grandmother who was always bright and cheery yellow.

Love always gave the strongest colors. Most mothers were tied to the colors purple, most fathers associated with the brown color pallette. But what everyone in the world worked towards, strived for, was their soulmate. The one singular person in the world that you can connect with fully, and all of the colors would unlock; and the connection was as powerful as it was magical.

There was no hatred, no bigotry, and no judgement in the world over whom one should or should not love, it was all about the colors. Some people found their matches early in life, childhood friends that bonded for life. Others waited for decades, searching in color bars and patiently and politely talking to singles as they searched for their colormate, their soulmate.

Some people went mad, desperate to find their other half, desperate to see more of the world than the black and grey world they were born with; the few glimpses of color they had seen over the years like the strongest drug as they wanted more, more, and more.

He was no different, as he'd grown up he'd been surrounded by family as they'd each brought their bright color to the dull world that he usually inhabited. Family gatherings were often and relaxing, as everyone enjoyed the company and the colors. He'd always marveled at how everything could go from so drab and boring one moment, to alive and exciting the next with just the simple addition of color.

When he was 10, his parents got him a dog. A mutt like mongrel from the local pound with shaggy fur and a lopsided grin that followed him everywhere, and waited faithfully at the fencepost by the end of the road for him to return from school that day. They played together for hours; outside and inside. Under furniture and in blanket forts. The dog was blue and green to him as they roamed outside with their adventures.

Years passed as they played together, the two were still nearly fused at the hip in their daily excursions. One day, he came home from school, much larger than he had been when the dog first began his fence post vigil. On that day, the dog wasn't there.

He hurried up to his house, a knot of worry deep in his stomach as he wondered where his furry friend could be. Inside the house, his family was quiet, looks being passed around silently as they decided who needed to tell him something important.

The words cancer, fast spreading, in pain and put down were all he could remember. The veterinarian was there, standing solemnly and quietly in the corner as they confronted him. He made his way back to his dog's bed, the familiar sight of the worn blankets and half chewed toys bringing tears to his eyes as he knelt to hug his companion.

His world went back to black and grey after that evening; heartbreak they had called it. They encouraged him to move on, to get another dog and assuring him that the colors would return. He brushed them aside, missing his companion and wallowing in his misery.

Slowly the colors did start to return to him, one or two at a time as his family forced their company on him.

Friends came and went as well, as he completed high school and then college, bringing and taking their assortment of colors with them. He began going to weddings, seeing friends, old roommates and former classmates wed their soulmates, watching as the multi-colored bands were wrapped around their hands to bond them together.

Then he went to a funeral, where he saw the same multicolored band, now worn and frayed with age clutched in the hands of a partner as they watched their beloved being parted from them.

Death was heartbreak, the death of your soulmate was the end of your colors.

So then, after the graduation celebrations and the rough entrance into the REAL world, where there is no class retakes and skipping work isn't optional, it was time to start looking for his own soulmate. His own patch of color in a world of black and grey.

He registered with various services, to ones that claimed fast matches and ones that touted compatibility tests. He went to bars, meeting men and women with polite conversation as everyone milled about trying to find their match. Some faces stayed the same, some were brief as their luck was good, other faces grew more and more grim as the task turned to a chore, and then hopelessness.

Weeks turned into months, which turned into a year. Soon the weekly rounds at the meeting sites became less urgent and more optional. He wasn't giving up, but he didn't feel it was a priority either.

He phoned his friend one night, Red, that he wouldn't be coming. He was going to do the shopping instead. He told them to wish luck to Orange and Pink for the evening.

He pushed his cart around the aisles of the store, not paying any mind to the other patrons as he focused on his list and with his budget in mind; bread, milk, cheese, vegetables. He always told himself to get vegetables, then he never did. He admonished himself, wanting to kick himself into gear on a self imposed health kick (even though in the back of his mind, he knew it would likely only last until the weekend when the lure of laziness and pizza called him; pizza was a vegetable, right?).

Lost in his thoughts and amusement as he carried his basket towards his produce section, he turned the corner quickly and-

And he ran into her.

Items spilled and baskets upturned as limbs collided, curses were exchanged and apologies were murmured.

Their gazes met as they looked up from their muttered apologies and held, both of them taking a sharp inhalation of breath as the colors exploded in the world around them. They stared at each other, wild goofy grins slowly spreading across their faces as they realized what had happened and the few grocery items they had each managed to hang on to slipped to the floor, forgotten now as they stepped together from a world of black and grey in a world of full color.

Before, around friends, around loved ones you would only get a glimpse of that color that they embodied; a mere taste. Now, seeing the world in all its technicolor glory, the marveled at it together.

They had heard stories, retellings from their families about what it was like to first see in full color as they met The One, but nothing prepared them for the full impact of the world that they now viewed.

She said her name, he smiled as he rolled the name off his tongue. And again. And once more. His mouth forming the words like a lost prayer a piece of him had been missing. She smiled at him again, wide colorful eyes bright as she looked up him expectantly.

He gave her his name, watching as she did the same thing, smiling at her as a feeling of euphoria filled him at hearing his name on her lips.

They spent the next several hours, slowly walking through the aisles of the store with their single baskets abandoned for a large cart as they pursued the world of advertisement, and color, together. They chatted, getting to know each other while they adding things to the cart that looked more appetizing now that they were more than just black and grey.

They split the bill at the register, the bright, blue-tinged lights overhead blinking to indicate that the store was closing before heading back to his place (it was closer) with their haul of groceries.

More marveling over colors inside of his small place, as well as a few cringe worthy notes as the reveal of color had shown some less desirable color choices.

They laughed, they joked, and they talked some more, discovering more and more about each other long into the morning hours. He called into work, telling his boss he'd found his colors; he was given the rest of the week off. Enjoy it, he was told, it only happens once. She proudly declared she was self-employed.

They watched the sunrise in the sky, nestled together in a pile of blankets as they marveled at the colors that the morning sun painted over the horizon before exhaustion pulled them both into it's clutches while they sat wrapped in each other's embrace.

Time passed. Days turned into weeks, weeks into months as they spent their time together. They watched movies and went on walks, watched more sunrises and even more sunsets together. There were dinners, parties, family gatherings and family events. The colors grew more and more vivid, more and more vibrant as they were together.

There were never any demands, never anything owed between them; everything was either freely given or never questioned as to why not. It was the way society was. Equality for all, and hatred was not easily tolerated nor forgiven.

They fought one day, one evening. She yelled and gestured, he tried to counter and reason, both of their eyes wide as they heard the loud, foreign shouts at their ears. She asked him to leave, he complied. Depression now as he travelled home, the once vivid and vibrant colors had lost their magic, now muted colors and a dull palette.

It was the longest night of their lives for either of them, thus far, as they both fretted and replayed what had happened.

The next evening, she arrived at his place with flowers in hand. Stress, she had argued, and forgiveness, she had begged. Communication, he had asked, and forgiveness he would always give.

More time passed. More days turning to weeks, weeks turning to months. More sunrises and even more sunsets watched together. More movies, and more walks with each other hand in hand. The first step together, a house, and then came the unpacking of all things that had been packed. Long nights and aching joints as memories and mementoes were placed and perched carefully.

Routines were established, as she set up in a room, still self employed and still working from home, and he travelled into the city to work at his job. He began to eat his lunch at a cafe, at a nice little outdoor table, on Wednesdays, after he'd picked up the weekly edition of a photography magazine they liked to read. He would stop at the newsstand to purchase the magazine and look through the pictures while eating his lunch and then bring it home to her in the evenings. He always looked forward to watching her face as she looked over the brightly colored and awe-inspired pictures.

Sometimes, they would cut the pictures out, clipping them to large clipboard with a small atlas of the world taped to the center. Multi-colored pushpins were placed in random various countries across the map, some with bits of yarn stretching to photographs from the magazine that they wanted to go.

Someday, they said. Someday, they would take off and see each and every one of those pins.

Even more time passed, this time as they prepared for another step together; their bond. To get that multicolored band of their very own. Their routine changed. While he still continued to do everything the same, her's shifted to take care of planning details during the day; it was her forte after all. Planning was her forte, getting things done was his. And it worked well with them. He shifted schedules and took long lunches to go to meetings, helping to make decisions and making phone calls. It was a balance, as was everything in life, and this burden would be no different.

They still made time for their Wednesday routine though, as he stopped at the newsstand to pick up the photography magazine before going to lunch at the cafe. Then, in the evening, she would have her turn to look through the pictures. Every Wednesday, that was the routine.

This Wednesday started off perfectly routine. Another day of planning, of phone calls and meetings for work and for day of bonding. It was a careful balance they had worked out over the last days, and the last weeks. One last phone call to her, one last murmured endearment before he was off on his Wednesday routine as he picked up the magazine and then headed to the cafe to get settled in.

Sirens. The loud wail of sirens as they screamed past the street heading on their way to another emergency. The bright, shrill lights pierced the air with their warning as the vehicles hurried down the street, taking the turn and disappearing behind a building, only the scream of the sirens the reminder of where they had been.

Sirens were nothing new, it was a big city. There were emergencies all the time. He reminded himself of this, always feeling the flood of panic, the knot of worry that built up in his stomach and the cold chill that ran down his spine whenever they turned right instead of left down that street.

He exhaled, brushing the worry aside as he pulled out his magazine and looked down at the cover, looking at the full color glossy photograph that was always featured and felt his breath catch in his throat.

The cold feeling returned to his spine as the realization came to him that his world had returned to shades of black and grey.


End file.
